there has been a forward-marching movement over the last decade when it comes to bariatric surgery. in 2009, ontario alone committed $75 million dollars to increase bariatric surgery capacity six-fold. today, bariatric surgery is more widely available (although long wait lists can be prohibitive) and there are dozens of multidisciplinary bariatric clinics nationwide.
but there’s still a gap in medical education. high, who graduated from medical school in 2012, says she received essentially no training on how to address obesity.
“we don’t learn obesity medicine and we don’t learn anything about what changes behaviour,” says high. “i honestly feel like 90 per cent of what i do i learned on my own through experience and research after i completed medical training.”
high is certified through the american board of obesity medicine, along with nearly 150 other canadians (this in stark contrast to the one canadian physician who held this certification in 2006). the truth is, says high, there just is no canadian equivalency, so anyone wanting to make obesity a focus of their practice has limited options.
other professions aren’t immune to a lack of obesity training. according to registered dietitian jennifer brown, historically, the emphasis from food and nutrition experts has been on dieting.
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